Margot Kaessmann, Head Of German Church, Charged With Drunk Driving

04/25/2010 05:12 am ET
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Updated
May 25, 2011

Bishop Margot Kaessmann, the controversial head of Germany's Protestant Church, has been arrested for drunk driving.

Kaessmann, appointed the church's first female leader last year, was arrested in Hanover over the weekend after driving her $120,000 official limousine through a red light. Hanover state prosecutor Juergen Lendeckel told Reuters that Kaessmann was three times over the legal limit, and could lose her driver's license for a year.

"I am shocked at myself for committing such a grievous error," she told German press. "I am aware how dangerous and irresponsible it is to drink and drive. I will accept the legal consequences."

Kaessmann is head of the Protestant Church in Germany (EKD), an umbrella organization that unites Germany's 25 million Protestant Christians. Her election proved controversial - Kaessmann is not only the first female head of the organization and its youngest bishop, but the only divorced bishop in Germany. She has a reputation both as a modernizer and is a vocal opponent of the Afghanistan war.